by Kemet Mawakana (aka “The Seven-Foot Poet”)
Born in 1731 the son of a slave, Benjamin Banneker was a free African American, a self-taught clock maker, astronomer, and mathematician. He played a major role in the boundary surveys and initial layout of the nation's capital, and in the 1792 edition of his almanac was the first to call for creation of a US Department of Peace. Banneker harshly criticized Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, for rank hypocrisy in stating that liberty was the God-given right of all mankind while “...you should at the same time counteract his mercies, in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my brethren, under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you should at the same time be found guilty of that most criminal act, which you professedly detested in others, with respect to yourselves."
The Seven Foot Poet shares with us the lesson of scholar-warrior Benjamin Banneker's life of struggle.
Scholar Warrior
Click the flash player below to hear the Seven Foot Poet perform this original work
{mp3}poetry/085_7ft_scholar-warrior{/mp3}
(For the “Honoring Our Ancestors” rally at Benjamin Bannaker Overlook Park in Washington DC – in support of establishing a national memorial to Benjamin Bannaker)
It’s a game – It’s a trick
That they run on you real slick
When they say Benjamin Bannaker
Was a genius among geniuses?
Listen!
“He’s one of a kind” “Exceptional” “Rare” “Extraordinary”
“Exotic” “Different Than Those Other Negroes”
That’s a lie
Just like Bannaker
Millions of Africans had mapped out the night sky!
Bannaker’s no different
Than you or I
We are African with the same knowledge and genius inside.
It’s a game – It’s a trick
That they run on you real slick
When they say Benjamin Bannaker
Was a genius among geniuses?
Listen!
The mathematical foundation
For his mathematical formulations
Were informed by the mathematical genius
Of his father, grandfather and entire mathematical black nation!
I don’t care which part of the continent you mention
Africans have been phenomenal mathematicians
From the pyramids to the Ishango Bone
Bannaker ain’t said nothin’ but word
We Africans ain’t already known
Bannaker’s no different
Than you or I
We are African with the same knowledge and genius inside.
It’s a game – It’s a trick
That they run on you real slick
When they say Benjamin Bannaker
Was a genius among geniuses?
Listen!
Bannaker was the 1st to predict a solar eclipse
The 1st clock, 1st theory of relativity, 1st to discuss aliens
1st that – 1st this
Actually he was the 1st one to teach that to white folks on this continent
Africans throughout the world already knew it -- and did it
Bannaker’s no different
Than you or I
We are African with the same knowledge and genius inside.
It’s a game – It’s a trick
That they run on you real slick
When they say Benjamin Bannaker
Was a genius among geniuses?
Listen!
Despite being amid a sea of Africans being tortured
by white people daily
Despite white women trying to rape him as a sex toy
Despite the Bible and English being imposed on him
He grew from a boy to an African man
And before he died -- he knew the truth inside
So Scholar Warrior Bannaker told Thomas Jefferson
To “Kiss his black ass!”
Not joking, not a giggle or a single laugh
Well maybe I’m paraphrasing but
Scholar Warrior Bannaker hated
that his people were being hung and lashed
Yes
Scholar Warrior Bannaker was a genius!
He excelled as best he could
If he were alive today
He’d be chillin’ with us right here in the ‘hood.
We remember him best
and honor him best
When we excel as Africans
Living in this white-mess
Because -- Bannaker’s no different -- Than you or I
We are African with the same knowledge and genius inside.
HONOR BENJAMIN BANNAKER - BE YOUR BEST AFRICAN SELF!
By Kemet Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)
Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)
Copyright 2004.
Kemet Mawakana (aka “The Seven-Foot Poet”) is a highly acclaimed spoken-word artist, and has published two books A . . . Z . . . Infinity and Crucifixion of My Soul. The collective body of his works presented weekly in BAR are in tribute to Listervelt Middleton, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, and “For The People”. Currently, he is a facilitator at AYA Educational Institute (www.ayaed.com) and can be reached at sevenfootpoet@gmail.com.
Anne Venhuizen is an attorney in The Bronx Defenders' Impact Litigation Practice.
Christopher Bruce is Policy Director of the Georgia ACLU.
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